We humans like our comforts, and temperature is one of the most important. In summer, we want our homes and offices to be pleasantly cool, and warm and cozy in winter. We run air conditioners to beat the summer sweat, and light roaring fires to warm our homes in winter. What a waste! What if we could save summer’s heat, and release it in winter?

Swiss scientists began playing with technology to do just that, back in 2017, and now it’s being commercialized. The SunBank system uses summer’s sun and evaporation to suck the heat out of our living spaces and store it, chemically, in a concentrated solution of salts. In winter, SunBank reverses the process, diluting the salts and releasing comforting warmth.

It’s just like running your aircon backwards in winter, but uses almost no electricity, just a little pure water. And because it’s a closed-loop system, that trapped sunlight never goes to waste. In fact, it can be stored for years, if necessary, and released on demand.

Together with solar power and advanced batteries, the SunBank system is radically reducing the demand for old-fashioned, energy hungry heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. In fact, businesses built over decades, relying on demand for centralized utility power, are fast becoming obsolete.

Technology has empowered the individual home and small business to take control of their energy needs – in the most eco-friendly way.